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LETTER OF THE HON. LANGDON CHEVES, 

To The Editors of the Charleston Mercury, Sept. 11, 1844. 



The appearance of the following letter in the Mercury, excited an extraordinary 
interest in Charleston, and from all sides come demands that it should be republished 
in a form more convenient for circulation, perusal and preservation, than the columns 
of a newspaper. The calm, earnest^deeply-reasoned work of a retired statesman, 
whose past life has been signally illustrated by rare ability, and a still rarer self- 
denial, consistency and stern integrity — this letter commends itself to the study and 
reflection of all good men. It is full of matter, and manfully and eloquently handled — 
great questions opened, and lighted up to their lowest depths. We trust the Press 
will unite in giving it general circulation among the people. 



Messrs Editors: — 

I have been informed, Jo my surprise, that, in consequence of a short note, 
addressed to my fellow-citi^ns of the neighborhood in which I live, on the 4th of 
July last, I am supposed to be in favor of resistance by the action of South-Carolina 
alone. Such an impression is entirely erroneous. I expressed a dozen years since, 
the same sentiments, almost in the same words, and was, at the same lime, as is well 
known, decidedly opposed to resistance by a single State. But I shall now, with 
your permission, leave no doulit of the position in which I wish to stand, and, in doing 
so, I shall mingle my opinions and counsels with those of my fellow-citizens, to be 
Weighed for what they are worth, in "this great argument." 

The Tariffl consider an act of insufferable and insulting oppression, which ought 
to be borne only until it can be judicioudy resisted, liut this resistance, in my 
opinion, to be effective, must unite the efforts of, at least, a large portion of the suf- 
ferers. I do not think one State ought to resist alone. There will bo neither confi- 
dence nor certainty in such a course. The people of one State, standing alone, wovddt 
not be heartily united among themselves. It might be dilferent if the State were 
alone in the suffering; but standing in the midst of common suflerers, much more 
numerous than themselves, whose arms were folded, the presence of these wou'd 
operate like a moral condemnation of their act, and chill the warm blood, though ani- 
mated in so good a cause, and enfeeble the strong arm just raised to strike. 
1 



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2 



Hut, It is asked, if our fellow-sufferers will not unite with us in resistance, shall we 
basely subinit? We have no ri^ht to anticipate that event. In my opinion, if they 
(!<» not, they will be insensil)!e to honor and to shame, and equally so, to their interests 
and their daiifrer But we dare not cast this repr )ach upon thi-m, merely because 
they do not think lit to adopt our measures and our time. If we think they are tardy, 
we must entreat them, with brotherly zeal, to quicken their step. If our measures 
be not acceptable to them, let us modify them, or adopt theirs if they lead to the same 
end. Resistance will be a very solemn act. If it be rashly attempted and fail, it 
Avill rivet our chains and bring on us new burdens and insults. Success in such great 
enterprizes is not usually the result of a sudden thought or the fruit of a single day, 
but of wise and sober deliberations and protracted action. We are speaking of the 
movement ol nations — a successful resistance will probably cost some years. The 
circuujstances in which we are placed, cannot fail to remind us of our first great act 
of resistance to oppression. Let us then boast less often and less idly of the deeds of 
our ancestors, ar)d more faithfully imitate them. They did not jiimi)in a single breath 
to their conclusion, and talk of single handed resistance. They deliberated l()ng. and 
they wisely united all who were under common sufiering and in common danger. 
Let us do as they did. Let associations be formed in every Southern, and, if pus«ib!e, 
in every Stjuth-Western State, and let them confer togeth(»r and interchange views 
and information; let leading men, through committees and private correspondence, 
collect, compare and conctntrate the views of* like men in the respective States, and 
when ripe titr it, and not before, let representatives from these Slates meet in Con- 
vention, and, if circumstances promise success, let them then deliberate on the mode 
of resistance and the measure of redress. If not, still persevere; let neither delay 
nor first f'lilures, should they happen, create despair or faint heartedness. Inflexible 
perseverance rarely fai's in a good cause, and ours is one that must never be aban- 
doned. Contirme to enlighten the public mind, rouse the public feeling, excite the 
public shame, for the degradation to which we have been brought; let yoiu' exertions 
be not occasional and desultorv, but organized and incessant; avoid especially all 
blustering, and put in the place of it sound sense and forcible reasoning. Your 
a|)p('als to your fellow-citizens mav, nevertheless, be as impassioned as your sense of 
injury and shame and danger may inspire, but they ought to be chastenerl by a re<xard 
to the moral sense of an enli^jhtened communitv. Add to*the proper functions of the 
newspaper press, the circulation of able and W(>11 chosen tracts, and let them be found 
in every han)let and house in the South and South-West. Carry your exertions into 
the cam|) of the enemy. Thus did the colonies in their preparation for resistan;;e to 
the mother country. During that struggle, we had among our friends the Burkes 
and the (.'hathams, and others of the greatest names that ever adorned humanity. 
'J'here are in every country virtuous men who hate inpjstice and detest oppression, 
though they be the acts of their own country and government; and their influence, 
thouirh tlu-y may not be able to carry a vote, has otlen great moral and political 
wi'i'^ht. Thi'ir approbation will have great effect in sustaining your own resolution. 
Iiiit in this case you may a|)peal to their int<Mest as well as their justice; f()rthe mass 
of the [M'ople, nowhi-re, derive anv advantage from the oppression yon su(l^r, and 
iiavc great and honest interests put at hazard by the resistance you may be obliged to 
mak<'. jM;uiiifictures should be the last resort of industry in every country; n)r when 
forcfd, ns they are with us, ihcv serve no inlen sts but those of the capitalists who set 
them in motion, and their immeriiate loc-alilies. Commerce is the proper hand-maid 
of ngri'ultun-, and agriculture the i)less,.Mi employment of man. Already both are 
languishing under the intriguing power of juanufacturing capitalists. Without the 



aoriculture of the South and South West, the fTiass would grow in the streets of your 
o-reat Nforthern cities. What, comparatively, would Boston, New-York, Pliiladelpiiia 
and IJaltiinore he, were the South and South West, or even the South alone, (»liiised 
to retire from the Union? What, if our intercourse with these cities were transli-rred 
to Liverpool and Havre? A moment's reflection will he sulhcienl to show how little 
didicult tliis transfer would he, especially when we consider the present and frrowing 
celerity of steam power. Tliese and like ports are the ultimate i)oints ol'our present 
commerce, tliouijh we are contented (good, easy people as we are, when not trampled 
to the earth by oppression) to bear the charges of a double transit, and to em])loy these 
Northern cities as our factors. What, if the unhappy event of separation shall bo 
provoked, is to prevent us from doing our own liusiness, as we have done before, and 
reaping the profits which we now bestow on others, and which l)ave mado the com- 
mercial men of the North and East "Merchant Princes?" Charleston and Savannah 
would then be great and flourishing cities. New-Orleans would speedily swell into 
the present magnitude of New- York, and every town and interest connected with 
them would increase and flourish in proportion. These may be called by the inter- 
ested and unreflecting, idle dreams, but those acquainted with the nature of commerce, 
and who have reflected on the concentrating power of the Union wiiich now builds 
up and sustains the great Northern and Eastern cities, well know that they are sober 
truths, and that, in the event deprecated, the result is certain and inevitable. Rouse 
then the proper enquiries, and you will have numerous friends within the enemy's 
lines, and these, too, will be the best friends of their own immediate countries. 

Renounce absolutely and unreservedly, during this contest, all pretensions to the 
high honors of the Union. Fill no oflice under the General Government, e.\ce[)t in 
the Lei^islative Halls. This will be no sacrifice, for no son of yours will, whatever 
be his merits, ever till the Executive Chair until your wrongs are righted; until you 
shall be respected as equals in the Government; and until the withering scorn of the 
Legislative Assemblies shall banish from their floors your calumnious accusers. 

f do not say that you ought not to join, even zealously and with all your might, in 
the choice of a chief magistrate of the Union; but let it not be in support of a 
Southern aspirant, which, at this time, will weaken, distract and mislead you. 
Support always the candidate most likely to sustain your own and your country's 
interest. I speak not of Carolina alone, but of all the Southern States — give your 
whole and undivided weight to the men and the party opposed to your oppressors, and 
claim no oflice for yourselves. By this unambitious course you tnay gain some 
weight in the national councils — at present you have none. The people of the 
West, notwithstanding sonv; little apparent alienation, which has depended vastly 
more on the movements of men, than on principles, and which therefore cannot last 
long, are your natural allies. Let the South and the West combine with the demo- 
cracy of the other parts of the Union. The West have at present abunilant cause 
to open their eyes to the evils they snfier from TarifTand Abolition combinations; for 
these powers are closely united, and together have wroughf out the lamentable result 
to which I allude. If Providence had enabled the West to possess themselves of the 
greatest blessing that God could grant them — of what would give them wealth and 
security and power — they ought to have desired Texas. But they see themselves by 
those unholy combinations, entirely and heartlessly deprived of these great bless- 
iniis. All the South Western States (by which I mean all South and West of the 
Ohio River) are of our blood and lineage"; their Institutions are more or less Southern, 
and their interests are really the same as those of the South. There is reason, 
therefore, to hope ere long we shall stand, as we were wont to do, in our country's 



more lih(M*al and p.ilniv days, side by side in our political moA'ements. By this natu- 
ral aliiaiice in tnrini'r times was tlie high handed |)()\ver of" that same people which 
now oppress yon, put down. This was the policy of" JeiTerson, and this alliance 
formed the preat Democratic party of the Union. 'J'hat great bond is now fearfully 
shattered and almost severed by tarifl'and al)olition combinations, and will soon alto- 
gether perish if these combinations be not resisted. Look at the great Democratic 
family of the North and East, how ii hobbles along in a spiritless paralytic movement, 
like that of the halt and lame! Look at the great and good Old ])ominion, how it has 
sunk and fallen, how its glory has gone down! Look at your own shameless Southern 
desertions! What is the cause of this deplorable condition of our politics? What 
is the cause of that general gloomy discontent and uncertainty which prevail among 
the people concerning their political moveuKMits; of the infidelity so shamefully 
exhibited by their representatives, who have sul)stifuted the little schemes of faction 
and personal resentment for the great interests of their country .' You see Southern 
Senators voting for a tariff which they themselves repeatedly condemned and repro- 
bated, and Western Senators against the annexation of Texas, which their constitu- 
ents, to a man, anxiously wished to acquire. What is the cause of those gloomy 
clouds which lour in the political sky; of that fearful dread which all good men 
suffer of a fatal disruption of our noble Institutions ? Dark as this picture may be 
ard certainly is, exclude but a single group of the numerous Dramatis personcr; let 
but the scene change so as to exclude from the stage a few hundred overgrown capi- 
talists, the governors of power looms and spinning jennies, and a very small ntunber 
of reckless tiinatic abolitionists, and all will be light and life. We shall immediately 
see the sky brighten and the clouds disperse — we shall discover a free, profitable 
and increasing commerce, feeding and sustaining a prosperous agriculture; high 
prices tor the produce of the soil, and cheap supplies for it? cultivators; with union, 
harmony and fraternal love binding together the whoh^ people of the whole country; 
the good old Democracy triumphant, and the motly band of W'higism — "Here a bit 
of blackstone and there a bit of white," — hiding its head in feebleness and defeat; 
the whole Union flourishing, and the South loyal, contented and happy; Texas 
bounding and strengthening our borders, and increasing our wealth and greatness. 
In the name of (Jod, what fiituity has come over the people, that they do not discover 
the petty and odious thraliium in which they are bound, and by which the greatest 
boons and blessings of i'rovideiice are threatened with entire subversion, and even, 
in cflecl, turned into curses. But to return from this two long but interesting digres- 
sion, in which we have looked with a kind of prophetic vision, we think, on what 
we hope to see realized at no distant day. When three or tour Slates shall arise 
with unblencliing front, and unite heartily and resolutely, others will speedily join 
them, and our relief will in all likelihood, be peaceably accom|)lished, and the Union 
preserved. Yet let not this blessed hope be relied upon with confidence, but anti- 
cipate a worse result, and be prepared to meet it. 

Hut shall we pvit at hazard that Union which we so much love and honor, in which 
we purcha'^ed a partn<Tshi|) with so many sacrifices, and be forced out ot" it liy that 
very pefiple against whom we have heretol()ro defended it. It is, in my o|)inion, a 
lamentable truth, that, that hazard must be met, and it is idle and even dangerous to 
hesitate in avowing it as the possible result, however nnieh we may deprecate it. 
There are worse evils than disunion, and we can hardly doul)t that we have been 
long RulTI'rinii luider them. Hut, if the dissolution ofthe Union be a great evil — and 
it rertaiidy will be so to the American people, and would be so tons if we were per- 
mitted to enjoy its benefits — the guilt and ihv. reproach will rest upon those who wan- 



tonly provoked it, and those who wantonly have siiflercd it to take place. Yes, wan- 
tonly, Tor the historian must record tlie fact, that "the sacrifice of that ^dorious 
Institution which mijz;ht have secured and perpetuated, to a distant posterity, the 
happiness, prosperity and greatness of twenty millions of people, at this time, and 
of more than an hundred to no very remote futurity, was made to gratify the inordi- 
nate avarice of a few score (not more) of great ca[)italists, in a small section of the 
country, and the furious madness of a smaller number of fanatical abolitionists, who 
combined together to oppiess the interests and to destroy the peace and happiness 
of the people of the Southern States, who, to the honor of humanity, resisted and 
overthrew their wicked designs." 

Before God, we do not wish disimion. Let the government be justly administered, 
and we will glory in the Union, and give it our whole hearts and strength, in peace 
and war, as we have done before Avhen some ot its most noisy eulogists, at the pre- 
sent time, were not in the ranks with us, — when they were almost in the ranks of a 
foreio-n enemy. But who has heretofijre spoken ofdisunion ? whence did the odious 
ternroriginate ? not surely from the South. It came in the chill blast of the North 
and East. By what description of persons has the idea, at any time, been put forth 
at the South 1 what man of note, what great public assendjly of the South has hereto- 
fore spoken of disunion. But among those who have recently taken it under their 
peculiar guardianship, the greatest men they boast have repeatedly and flippantly 
uttered it. When the great and invaluable acquisition of Louisiana was made, did 
not one of their most distinguished men on the floor of Congress declare, that it 
would be followed l)y their severence from the Union, "peaceably, if they could, 
forcibly if they must?" When the Treaty for the Annexation of Texas, (not less 
important than valuable) was announced, their greatest men rushed forward with 
breastless haste to utter equivalent language. Recently one of their greatest, wisest 
and gravest Legislative bodies modestly proposed to expunge from the Constitution 
the most sacred article in it,'by which we were woed into the compact, and without 
which we would have nothing to do with it; and what would this have been but ac- 
tually and faithlessly perpetrating disunion ? Yet these are the people who vocifer- 
ously accuse you of the desire of disunion, when "the head and front of your 
ofiending" does not amount to a tithe of their own guilt — if, inleed, there be the 
shadow of guilt on your part in complaining of the great abuses of it, and> if under 
the sore aftlictions you sufl^er through its forms, you propose to calculate the value 
of it and the dangers of it too, for the threatened dangers of it are more alarming 
than all we actually suffer, great as that may be. 

The Tarifl' is only an exponent of the power and the disposition to abuse and 
oppress us under the forms of the Constitution. Do not the halls of Congress ring 
daily with their unfraterna! and insolent homilies on our morals and humanity; and 
are we a free people, who are their equals in every moral and intellectual quality, to 
hear this? Do we not hear ominous threats of their interposition in our domestic 
concerns and with our tenderest interests, as if we were dependant or conquered 
provinces? Do we not know that those who thus raise their voices under the privi- 
leges of the Constitution, are the mouth-pieces of foreign fanatic associations with 
whom they correspond? Yet, these people eat the bread, taken from your own 
mouths, of that labor which they reprobate, and stint the comforts of that class of 
persons of whose condition they aflTect to be so fastidiously tender; for among the very 
highest duties which they impose to increase their extravagant gains, is that on the 
clothing of the slave. The heart of their humanity is in their strong box, and in the 
balance sheet of their profit and loss account. They are, Les amis des noirs, with 



6 

less motive of virtue than the Furies wlioin the National Convention of France 
vonjited upon St. Duiiiiiij^o, to scatter death among their white bretliren, and ever- 
lustinjT desohition and misery among the blacks. These were honest, erring and 
unhappy enthusiasts wlio knew not wliatthey were doing; but our assailants are cold 
blooded calculators, with this awml example before their eyes, stealing upon their 
victims, under the forms of the Constitution which guarantees the rights which they 
seek to destroy. Remember! — On the inviolai)ility of the Institution which is thus 
threatened and assaded, depends, not our prosperity alone, but every blessing under 
heaven, which we enjoy. Every thing Southern must necessarily perish with it. Hous- 
es, lands, stocks, monies at interest, and every other species of property, must go down 
with it and share a common fate. Let these people be unchecked, and we shall have 
nor coun'.ry, nor home, nor fire-side, nor civilization, nor social charities, nor life 
itsell". We shall be blotted from the face of the earth. The beaulilul and prolific 
South will exhibit nothing but scathed and blackened ruins, with a remnsint of the 
African race wandering amidst them in all the misery of desolation and hopile.ssness. 
The interjjosition we deprecate will be worse than plague, pestilence and tamine; 
worse tlian all the horrors of war, if waged by a civilized people. 

The l)avonets of our assailants pointed against our breasts would be more harmless 
than their counsels. On this subject, the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South 
have set us a noble exam|)le, which, if our opponents persi*it, we shall be otjliged to 
imitate, were the TarifJ' out of the question. Yet they invoke the Constitution, appeal 
to the sacred name of Washington, and call upon you iu his words to frown upon the 
man who shall endeavor to weaken its ties. Would it not be enough to return the 
chalice, with its poisoned ingredients, to theirown guilty lips? But let their guilt he 
what it mav, we are not and never have been the enemies of the Union. What Union 
did that great and good man venerate? It was the Union as it came from the hands 
of the Patriots who framed it. It was the Union we consented to. An Union ot equal 
rights and equal burdens. An Union in which we were to be equally respected and 
honored with our brethren, and our peculiar institutions sacredly protected. Not a 
Union of strife, and tribute, and insult, and slavery, on our parts. Hut would he, all 
just and wise, under the fijrmsofthe Constitution, have recommended submission to 
the unconstitutional o|)pression, insult and injury, under which we groan? General 
Washington was a sincere ('hristian, and would have called upon his felh wcitizens 
to frown upon the man who should endeavor to subvert the holy religion, in accord- 
ance with whose principles he had formed his own, and under whose irdluence he 
walked during the whole of his good and glorious life. Hut it" its Professors, regard- 
less of its truth and fearless of their (iod, had introduced ihe Iiujiiiftilion into the 
land, would l)e have looked with approbation on an auto cla fc, and called upon the 
pi'ople to support and venerate it? It was a righteous government which he sustained, 
and not one of guilt and oppression. He would, according to the whole tenor of his 
life, have been among the first to resist it; and so ought we, while, like him. we ven- 
erate it, in its truth and purity. No, our crime is not disloyalty to the Union, l)ut our 
Error in loo great a veni'ration for if, and il'we carry that veneration much liirlher, 
it will bt» an rvidence of unparalclled stupidity or unblushing baseness. Preserve 
till' Union, ilvoii can — appi-al to the great Democratic party to save the Union, which 
it can do, if it will. That party, though shattered, ami contiiunded, and betrayed, 
cmlirarcH a larfxi- majority of the people, almost the whole conservative class, almost 
all of every s(»und class, opposed only by manufacturing capitalists and th(>ir (le|)('nd- 
jinls, aliiditionists and their deluded followers, and the adherents of personal cabals 
and inil)rin(ipled tiictioiis. Let them unite in "a long pull, a strong pull, and a i)ull 



altogether," and the Union will be safe, and not only safe, but purified, Rut, if they 
will not, neither the preservation of the Union nor any other consideration under 
heaven, should induce you to continue your submission to the spoliation, ignominy, 
and danger, to which under the abuses of the Constitution, you are now subject. This 
language may be new and strong, but it is not the language of violence. There is 
a wide difference between earnestness and decision, and violence. The last is 
folly and weakness, the first is the sublimation of truth and sober reason. I warn 
you that anything short of what this language intimates will be trifling with the sub- 
ject, Do not deceive yourselves by supposing that the only struggle before you, or 
the greatest, is that of the Tariff. That of Abolition is at hand (how near, we cannot 
distinctly see) and often times the importance and danger. The Abolitionists aim 
directly at your destruction, and indirectly at the sul)version of the Union, That 
neither our destruction, nor the misery and desolation of the Race they pretend to 
serve, much less the preservation of the Union, will restrain them in their endeavors 
to establish their principles, is but too clear. Theirs is not a work of love, but of 
hate. They hate you more than they love the x\frican liace. But what I mean to 
say is, that they aim at the destruction of the Union. All will admit that 
they aim at speedy abolition, and to force it upon you. Now, is there any 
sober man of common sense in the nation, who can believe if they advance one step 
further, but that the Union must be dissolved. They cannot advance one step fur- 
ther without entering your territories and controlling your laws. This, I think, will 
appear by stating the advances they have already made. They have not indeed 
actually exchanged credentials and entered into a Treaty in diplomatic form, with 
foreign nations, but they are most di:ectly co-operating with foreign associations, 
and, at least, one great Foreign Government, all pledged to universal enmncipation. 
The proofs are, among others, 1st. The existence of Abolition Societies of great 
weight and numbers in Great Britain. 2d. The co-operation of the Government 
of Groat Britain with their own Societies. 3d. The co-operation of our Abolition- 
ists with those Foreign Societies. 4th. That these Foreign Societies have their 
agents and orators, with whom they correspond, on the floor of Congress. 5th. That 
they have a political party in many States, organized and distinctly designated. 6th. , 
That this party forms one great clement of the great Whig party of the Union — at | 
least in power, if not in name — so much so, that if the Whig candidate for the Presi- 
dency be successful, he will owe his success to abolition votes; because in some 
States, whose votes are necessary to his success, New^-York for example, the Whigs, 
without the votes ofthe Abolitionists, will be in the minority. These Foreign Soci- 
eties will thus, if that result happen, have had great influence in the election of our 
Chief Magistrate. 7th. Great Britain has already interposed with our own Govern- 
ment in a manner to countenance the American Abolitionists, by declaring to it 
views in coincidence with theirs, and which our Executive Government has veiy 
properly protested against. 8th. There is the hostile Act of the Legislature ofthe 
State of Massachu efts, which in itself woidd, if executed, be a subversion of the 
Union. 9th. The temper of the Abolitionists, evincive of the consciousness of their 
power, of which I shall give but one proof. That is a letter of the Anacharsis 
Cloofes oC the United States. In this letter, afler abusing in the grossest terms, the 
President ofthe United States, the present Secretary of State, and several of his pre- 
decessors, and denouncing generally the conduct of the Government of his own 
country, and showing himself in heart and soul devoted to the unfriendly views ol 
foreign country, he comes down to the late letter of remonstrance of Mr. Calhoun to 
the British Minister, and says, "we are yet 1o learn with what ears the sound of the 
trumpet of slavery was listened to by the British Queen and her ministers. We are 



ypt to learn wlielhor the successor of Elizaltflh on the tluone of England, and her 
BiirliMjjhsand Walsinghams, upon hearinj^, that their avowed purpose to promote uni- 
versal einanripdiion and tlie cxtinedon of .si aver i/^ is to be met by the man robbers of 
our oirn count ri/ with exterminating lear; will, like craven cowards, turn their back 
and Jlecoreat their own iC07-ds, or disclaim the purpose and object which they have 
avowed.^'* 

I now ask, if the abolitionists can go one step further without entering your terri- 
tories and controlling your laws? Whether they do not now shake the Union, and 
whether, if they can proceed any farther, they will not destroy it? These are the 
allies of the Whigs and the manufacturers. Slay it not now be asked, with some 
hope that the peo|»le will have opened their eyes, who are the enemies of the Union? 
and what will stop the abolitionists from going on? Not certainly their discretion, 
not their fear of scenes of horror, nor their love of their white brethren, nor of their 
country; — nothing but their want of power will stop them; and yet you have seen a 
great array of strength which they control. Beware! the tariff is a tiifle to this 
danger. But I have forgotten, in the exhibition of the power and progress of the 
abolitionists, to mention the greatest of all their successes — the rejection of the treaty 
for the annexation of Texas, in which they have triumphed over the interests of the 
whole Union, and the will and power of all the Southern and all the Western States. 
Hut we must pass on. All admit our wrongs, all acknowledge our danger, but as 
often as the tongue lisps resistance, you are met by the eternal cry of the Union! the 
l'ni(jn! the dangers of the Union! and you are subdued by it. Until you can throw 
off this thraldom, and cherish the vital truths, that your llrst and holiest allegiance is 
due to your State institutions — that the Union ought to be altogether secondary in 
your thoughts and hearts — that all governments ought to be loved and sustained only 
for their virtues, and that their vices should be watched with jealousy, and resisted at 
the threshhold, you are unprepared for resistance. Ifthe Union must be imperishable, 
though established on the usurpation of your rights, the insecurity of yoursocial peace 
and your insignificance as a people, away with all thoughts of resistance. 

In fine, it is my humble opinion, that if we are to resist at all, we must surrender 
this trembling fear of the dangers of the Union, to other fears and dangers much more 
important, involving interests still dearer to us, and which immediately ''come home 
to our business and bosoms." That no effectual resistance will be made without the 
union of three or four States. That therefore, the great object of exertion is to effect 
that concurrence; and that as often as you shall attempt separate action you will fail, 
and more and more weaken the moral power of resistance, to which the physical will 
always be obedient. Nevertheless, I advise no Hotspur rashness, no immoiierate 
haste, though unnecessary delays are dangerous. You sleej) on a volcano. The 
figure no more than expresses your danger. But that danger, unlike the great natu- 
ral phencjinenon with which I have compared it, may be controled by human power; 
you may extinguish it, but if you wait till it ex[)lodes and covers you with its lava, 
the mataphor again becomes expressive, and indicates ilic awlul ruin in which you will 
be involvfd. 

There are some incidental matters on which 1 propose to dwell lor a short 
lime. 

There is one measure fretjuently recommended, which I think decidedly wrong, 
and thoref()re dangerous. I mean the call of a State Convention. [ thii\k it wrong 
tor the following reasons, among many others : 

• lor thiK letter, see the Pendleton Mt-Buengcr of llic L>3d August lu8t, taken from llic Georgia 
('uiiiilituliunalixt. 



Isl. This is proved in the very outso, by the fact, that many, perhaps all, propose 
it under the supposition, that a- Convention possesses some power applicable to the 
question, which the Legishiture does not possess, which is a gross mistake. The 
Legislature possesses all the power of the sovereign people, except where it is 
e.vi»rs.sl)i restrained by the Constitution. Now, there is no restraint upon it in the Con- 
stitution, which bears on any measure that has been, or that can be, imagined for the 
redress of our grievances. 2ii. The value, efficiency and power of Government, is 
mainly founded on stability, uniformity, and even the establi-;hed forms with which its 
powers are executed. It presents a well known legal person to the peojjle of State 
and to the whole world, acting under just responsibility and with the greatest wisdom 
the country can supply, if the representatives i)e properly chosen, as they ought always 
to be, and probably will be, at the present crisis especially. 3d. A Convention has 
the character, more or less, of a revolutionary measure. It more or less shakes the 
foundation of Government. It is a comparatively clumsy machine, sub'-tituted for 
one of great skill and appropriateness, instituted by the wisest men in the State, with 
great deliberation, in the absence of all excitement, for the express purposes of all 
the powers granted to it by the Constitution. A Convention cannot be called, under 
the Constitution of this Slate, for a special purpose. When convened, it has all the 
power of the people, virtually supercedes the Government, and if it chooses, may 
dissolve it. Such a body ought not to be constituted unless absolutely necessary. It 
is not enough to say, it will now do no harm. The example of convening it, is itself 
an evil. Though there be now no danger of the abuse of it, it may hereafter become 
a terrible instrument in the hands of a faction or a demagogue. 4(h. The action of 
the State, whatever it may be, must immediately or ultimately, look to the co-opera- 
tion of other States, and, tor the reasons I have mentioned and others, it may have a 
forbidding aspect in the eyes of those States. If this State shall only act jointly with 
other States, that action will probably be more harmonious and homogeneous, if we 
employ the same authorities which they, in all likelihood, will employ. 

There is another incidental subject which seems to embarrass the writers of the, 
day, and yet it is extraordinary that it should do so. It is said, the State is pledged 
to resist. If that pledge ought to be redeemed, it\vill be onlybecause it is right and 
proper that we should resist. I shall not stop to encpiire what the precise terms of 
the pledge are, because it is impossible that the State can be pledged to any coufse 
inconsistent with its true interests, among which, and the head of which, I admit will 
rank its untarnished honor. Pledges of a State, like those of an in lividual, mu4 be 
to itself or to others. Pledges of the last kind must be inviolably performed, however 
disadvantageous or impolitic, unless they involve moral guilt. Pledges of the State 
to itself, however, are very diflc^rent. They can never mean more than what is 
always required, independent of any pledge — that she shall act with Avisdom, firmness 
and consistency, according to the circumstances of the time and the occasion when 
she is called to act. If the pledge be rash or unwise, will it be argued that she is 
bound to act? The question will always be, pledge or no pledge, what is wi=!e — what 
is expedient, unless it be dishonorable. When the pledge is not to a thiriperson, 
surely it cannot be obligatory or reputable to do a thing which is unwise, rash, inex- 
pedient, and perhaps destructive of the very object which the pledge was intended to 
advance. A pledge to one's self is no more than giving pub icity to the thought or 
opinion of the moment. Having given publicity to it. if it be wise and proper 
and honorable, not to execute it, shows weakness and instability, and therefore 
it is disreputable not to do so. On the other hand, it would display weakness 
or obstinacy to do what was unwise, rash or dishonorable, because one had pledged 
2 



10 

himsflf to do so. It, therefore, seems to me, that the question before iis is entirely 
free from niiv embarrassment of pledges. Hut tliere st'iJins to be a difference between 
tlie pledge of an individual and that of a Siafe by its represeiitativi-s. The pledge 
of tliese caimot involve the free deliberations of luture fiuictionaries, where there is 
no third party roneerned. If the pledge be wise and projier, it is the duty of the 
successors to' redeem it. but surely not otherwise. The question then seems to me 
as free as if no pledge hatl ever been made; and is — ought the Slate to resist, and 
what shall b(i the mode and time of that resistance? 

Much has been said about a leader. You will be much better without one. Such 
a leader may be a fit instrument to dictate the movements of a faction, but not those 
of a people or a nation. Resistance, to be effective and reputa!)le, must not be dema- 
gogical. but national. It is paltry and feeble, in this great question, affectiug so 
ma^iiy States, to talk of a leader. The nation must rnnve, and you must have many 
leaders. No people prepared for a great achievment will ever want leaders. You 
want a due preparation of the national mind and .fpiril for a great vwremcnt; — you 
irant also, a settled principle and a determinate ohjeci of action, which no individual 
should be permitted to dictate. The people acting implicitly under the dictates of a 
leader, debase themselves, resemble a mob, and exclude from their ranks all the sober, 
deliberate, steady, good sense of the community, which cannot be expected to follow 
the authoritativedictates of a leader. The principle and object of action should be 
established by the people themselves, (who should not, surrender the character of 
thinking beiugs,) by the advice and assistance of the leading men in their respective 
States. If the States unite, this will be best done in a Convention of the States; 
and, if they act separately, by their Legislatures. When the principle and object of 
action shall be thus established, it will be national, and you will have leaders enough; 
and they will be fit and appropriate leaders, embracing all the good sense, talent and 
rliaracter of the country. The Congress which declared the independence of the 
United States, was not governed by a leader. The Congress which declared the late 
war against Great Britain, was not governed by « leader. Hut these acts were 
brought about l»y leading men, who knew and spoke the will of their constituents. 

Tlie last incidental circumstance which I shall notice, is the servile adulation which 
is paid to the Union, at a time it would be natural and, 1 think, just, to feel resentful. 
It does, indeed, excite my special wonder, to see Southern men bowing down before 
the idol and shouting hosimnasto it, as if it were in the act of showering blessings upon 
us. These are, I confers, a music hateful to my car. I could as much respect the 
spirit of a man who had fallen under the blows of an adversary, and who should choose 
that moment to eulofji/e his virtues, his humanity and his benevolence. I blame no 
just rcsjject to the Union. I have loved the Union as much as any man in it; I still 
respeft it, aiul wish to preserve it; but it is not in my heart, Avhile my country is 
smarting under its lash, to pour out my devotions to it. I should consider it a moral 
defilement. In a n;iliou, it is a sign of a dark and leeble mind and a pusillanimous 
s|)irit. 

No man, with such a spirit, can duly love his nearer and dearer institutions; no 
man, with such a spirit, will be ready to resist the wrongs done to them, lletlecl cm 
till- pur|)oNes of a good and beneficent ("lovernment. Such a (»overmnenl is Ire- 
rpienily dcKcribed by figures, significant of benefits received and love returned, which 
our hearts, rather than our minds, suggest, and which are, therefore, more emphati- 
rally just. — [i js called a panuita! protector and a kind nursing mother. Now, name 
a single blessing of sueh a (Joverrunerit that you enjoy. Does it make you (the 
Soutlj) great — docH it enshrine you in honor — docs it make you rich and prosperous 



11 

— does it secure your property — iloes it protect the peace of your slumbers — does it 
shield you from the fanatic iii(>tMidiary, or does it not hold up his torch and enliven its 
flame, and invite him to api)ly it to your most combustiijie miterial ? Name, if you 
can, one single benelit of a good and heneficent (ioverimient which you enjoy under 
it. Thanks to a stuidy nature, we still live and breathe in spite of its inflictions. 
Even this we owe to our neglected and forsaken State institutions. But your assail- 
ants tell you plainly, that even this, the bare breath of life, which they have left in 
you, you enjoy merely under a short reprieve, until their plans are ready for the e.xe- 
cution of that doom of dejolation and ruin which they have pronounced against you, 
and which they are hastening on with all their zeal and power. In the Halls of 
Legislature they are already permitted to tell you, that your presence there is poUu. 
tion of their Pharisaical purity; and are you, proud freemen, (do you not so call your- 
selves .' with what truth I shall not decide;) humbly to solicit their forborn embrace ? 
Surely, I may say, let us have no m^re of this servile adulation of the Union, while it 
is what you (not enjoy, but) suffer. On the contrary, examine freely and fearlessly 
its value and the dani^ers with which it threatens you, as well as the suffering which 
it already inflicts. Despise the clamors raised against you as enemies of the Union. 
It is false, absolutely false, that you are the enemies of it, in its truth and purity, and 
it were base and cowardly not to be the enemies of its abuses. As it is practically 
administered, call it by what name you please, it is a gross and oppressive tyranny, 
and much the worse because it is many headed. "A popular tyranny is more terri- 
ble and debasing than the tyranny of a monarch; in its appetites more inappeasable 
and gross, an J in its duration more lasting. It never dies. The gloomy expanse of 
tune whicli it covers is never irradiated by a Trnjan or an Antonius. There is an 
eternal duration of its vicious qualities and its rapacious reign." That there are any 
among us that can pour out this crouching adulation, I must lament, and I can pity 
the nustaken devotion. But the Southern man who can join our assailants bitterly 
and acrimoniously, in the slanderous cry of our enmity to the Union, for the purpose 
of weaki-ningthe resolution and paralyzing the efFoits of his own countrymen, in re- 
sistance to its abuses, 1 am obliged to thmk justly chargeable with the most uimatural 
feelings, with a hideous want of patriotism, with a most guilty moral .treason, wiiich, 
though the laws do not touch, the public scorn will not allow to go unpunished. 

Finally, I say, do no rash or sudden act : wait yet longer. There are some favora- 
ble sigus'in the political heavens. There are, I think, hopes, that your grievances 
will be redr(;ssed by constitutional and peaceable means, and the dangers of the Union 
averted. The Democratic party see how profitless and di:basing it is to serve men 
instead of principles. I think it may be predicted (the darkest hour usually precedes 
the d;iwn) ihai before very long, perhaps within the coming year, there will be a 
re-acliou which will establish the Democratic party in its ancient power and purity, 
and unite, in a faithful and fraternal band, cemented by their best interests and their 
best feehngs, all the mcmb<;rs of that great conservative body, throughout the Union, 
whether Morlh, South or West. The incongruous and unpatriotic combinations of 
Wiiigism cannot long cohere. The sacrifice of Texas, if nothing else, must make 
it odious to all the sound part of the nation, and particularly to the South and West. 
They cannot — they will not forgive it. The commencement of this re-action will 
probably be moie o\- less advanced or retarded by the result of the ensuing Pvesiden- 
tial election, in which, instead of being luke-warm, the whole South and West should 
pu! forth tlif;ir whole zeal and strenght. 

But this hope is not a reason why the remedial movements of the South should not 
commence, ut furthest, with the close of the present year, when the turmoilof all the 



12 

elections will bo over. You ought by sober, regular ami deliberate steps, to deter- 
mine the geneial prii)ci|)li;s ol' your aclion — lo orgairizo the means of union and 
concert among the Suites, and to wutcli the movenu.ni of the times, — 
The Southtirir Slates ought now lo assume, and afterwards keep up, as long 
as their oppression and danger last, an armour of defenee prepared for contiti 
gencies. 1 do not, of course, mean an array of pliysieal force, but a moral armour 
under which they may be ready, speedily to act, witii union and conccjrt, as circum- 
stances may require. 

I have already adverted to the subject of Texas. The rejection of the Treaty of 
Annexation I regard as a measure (if not of wickedness) of egn gious fully, saci'i- 
ficing inicrests of great value and impurt-ince to the whole Union, but particularly lo 
the South and West; and more especially in connexion with ihe claim of Great 
Britain, which, I fear, is veil Ibunded, to tliefree navigation of the Mississippi, and, as 
a consequence, perhaps of its tributaries. This right, if it fxist, wi.l give her uncon- 
trolled access to your territories, and carry, alike, her commercial agents and her 
emissaries of abolition, through the midst of your towns and plantations into the very 
heart of Texas, all which would have been averted for ever by the ratification of the 
Treaty of Annexation. But when we look, through the vista of lulurity, at the advan- 
tages to commerce, to navigation, to manulacluri.'s, to agriculture, and, above all, to 
the national security, and jjower and greatness which would necess irily have resulted 
from the acquisition, we can hardly estimate the immense value ot the boon, nol to 
us alone, but to the whole Union, which was providentially put in our power, and 
which we have wantonly thrown away. But the evils of the ri-j^ ciion of the Treaty 
do not end with its direct edects. The time of the negotiation was eminently pro- 
pitious, and the President deserves, and will yet, and sjjceddy. rec»>ive ihe abundant 
thanks of the country for the promptness, wisdom and j);itiiotism with wnich he seized 
and improved it. In the language of an able Senator, (Ur. Buchanan, of Pa-,) 
whose speech ought to occu[)y the columns of every patriotic press in the country: 
"Had tile Treaty been ratified by the Senate — had the union b.-iweeii the Republics 
been completed, the subject would have i)assed aw.»y without producing a ripple upon 
the surface of public opinion throughout the world." But, excited and einbo'.di-ned by 
the rejection of the Treaty, you already behold the two greatest powers of Europe 
obtrusively [lassing their jusi political limits, taking footing upon a portion of the 
continent so npproiiriated, that except in a hostile spirit, according to national usage, 
they were forbidden to interpose, and projecting (heir scheiiK^s ol intrigue, as it you 
wcrc! in the heart of Europe. They have crossed ihe Rubicon. England has 
already had her emissaries in Texas. Cuba will next be seized, under some pretext or 
other, OS a fair field lor Abolition. She will lluii command ihe Gulf and the Mis- 
aissippi. To speak of no other danger, what will then he the condition of New 
Oil. iins, without which, the whole >Vest could not brailie; or, if at all, hke nil 
asthmatic palirnt ? Tims we st>e laid open the clear sighted and patriotic wisdom ot 
this glorious union of Whigs, Manufacturers and Abolitionists, by which the Treaty 
<i|' Annexalioii was rfjecle<l. 

lOv.'U tins is not all, nr lln- worst evil lU' the rej'Ction of this wise and excellent 
Ticnly. Should Santa Anna be able (which cJodforhiil, though we know nol what 
foreign inlrigucsand foreign funds may enabli; liim to ilo,) to conqiKM' Texas, what a 
HpcctM.lc Will be pr.scnii'il lo the eyes of the Ameiican people! A people of your 
own bloo<l, who, worn out by b;irb nous, desultory invasion and war, as breth-eO, 
ihrt w lliciiiM'lvcN into yo ir arms, sought your iVatiMiial embrace, and enlreaud your 
|iiui.cuon, win. h, hy all the lies of nature, of lioiior, and of iulorcst, you should havo 



13 

granted ihcm, will be slaughtered before your eyes, and their noble country, which 
ouglit iilrtiuily 10 have been yours, ruined and desoiaied. We know from the ciiar- 
acter and past history of .heir assailant, ihaiihey will receive no mercy, no quarter. 
The bloody Ainpu'lia, (so rrujch so as to be utterly out of the pale of civilizauon,) the 
Gazettes iiiforn) us, has been put at the head of the army of invasion. People of the 
South, jteople of the West, nay, people of the whole United Stales, if your morals be 
tliose of Ciirisiianity, if you be not utterly bereft of the "natural touch" of human 
beuigs, with what feelings must you think of the abominable intrigues ond combina- 
tions in your own councils, which will have brought on this bloody and barbarous 
tragedy! The people of Texas have been slaMfierously called ''vagabonds and out- 
laws." You know this to be utterly false. We all know, their slanderers know, 
that, with very few exceptions, which will characterize all oew settlements, a better 
and braver people never were the pioneers of llie Angl j-Sixon bijod and fame. Far 
from being vagabonds and outlaws, there never was a new seillemeiU on this conti- 
nent, wliicij, for their numbers, embodied as much comfortable independence, (not to 
speak of wealth, though th' re are among thein wealthy men,) as much worth of cha- 
racter, as much improvement and intelligence, and abjve all, as much energetic 
enterprize and generous bravery. 

Tile buttle of Sa/i Jacmfo would be a prouJ distinction for any nation, and still 
more, the conduct and bearing of the victors, after their triumph. The civilization 
of any country would be illustrated and adorned by it. With the blood of the Alamo 
stiil reekintj from the ground, ins;ead of a merciless retaliation upon the Mexican 
U-rant and his miserable followers, the softening influence of civilization on the hor- 
rors of war, was never more conspicuous. Future times will scarcely ciedit the 
notorious fact, that under such horrible provocation, not a hair of their heads was 
touched; thai they w'ere treated with kindness and humanity while prisoners, and 
permitted, unharmed, to return to their country and homes. And shall these brave 
and benevolent men pe.-ish under the hands of the bloody tyrani, whose life they 
spared, when forfeited in' all the laws of God and man — a tyrarrt, who has no more 
claim to their submission than Carolina has to that of G orgia. Texas is, by national 
law and right, us free of Mexico as Mexico is of the. United States. Siie was never 
subject to any power but that of Spain. Under ihat she was perfectly indepetidenl of 
Mexico.* She united as an Independent Sovereign State in forming the Republic of 
Mjxicj. Bit wiiere is that llijpjb'ic now? Is th ; dictator, (wa sh )uld say u-surper.) 
of a subjugated people, Texas not included, that Republic? And, if he were, as an 
independent sovereign member of the confederation, she was no longer bound than 
the duration of her will and pleasure. f A Sovereign State can be no longer bound 
by any compact whatever. He may, indeed, make war upon her, and so may any 
tyrant upon any free State, but on no other ground of national law than he could on 
the United States, or any other Sovereign State. 

We have talked of purchasing his right to Texas, but he has no right of which he 
can dispose. We might have bought his unfounded pretensions to make the acqui- 
sition peaceable, but no more. How idle, then, has been all the pathos of our pharisaical 
brethren, about the invasion of the rights of Mexico by the Treaty of Annexation. But, 
I ask again, shall these brave and generous men perish under the hands of the nion- 
grel breed of Mexico? Two-thirds of them are the children of the great West. The 
benignant sun of our own dear South shone on the birth of the other; and will the 



»Humbold; .Malte-Brun; Poinsett's Xotes, Appendix, project of a Constitution; Mr. Buchanan's 
Speech. tVattel p. 59. 



14 

people of these regions stand by, fold l heir arms, and with cold blood, behold the 
mussiicrc! for sik'h It wuuld be, if they be vanquished? Foibid il humuiily, furbid it 
honi»r; let the IdIv lies uf i<indn;d blooa forbid it. Bui, it may be .uslced, what ean 
be dijiie? The Union has abandoned liiein. i iiumbly suggest that tlie power is indu- 
bitable. The will only is wauling. Il is very plain wiiut can be done, and what 
ought to be done. Tliere is nothing in the Consiilulion of the Union to f(jrbid the 
Sillies loaning them money. Tiiey want nothing else. Aid ihem liberally in this 
way, and volunteers enough will be found to unite with them to furnish other fiilds 
of S m Jacinto, on which "the lone star" shall again shine in triumph. 

If this sus^estion shall be thought worthy of adoption, (and I canriOl doubl that it is,) 
there is probably no lime to be lost. Let active and able men ol'the South and Wt;st, 
who feel interested in the cause, communicate with each other as soon as possible, 
particularly on the mode of approaching the Legislative bodies of the Slates, 
and in arranging details. Can it be doubted, that if properly brought before 
the people, (I mean through their Legislative bodies,) they will respond like 
men and brethren to this sacred call? It is an occasion on which they should 
stretch a point, and be liberal. It is an occasion of lile and death to fellow 
beimrs and kindred blood. It is an occasion of the utmost national interest, inde- 
pendent of the claims of humanity. Tliere is no depending interest of the 
United States of h ilf as much importance as the prevention of the subjugation of 
Texas. It is a country absolutely essential to our security and Interest, and it mast, 
sooner or later, become a part of our Union, at whatever cost. By this aid you will 
bind the peopleof Texas to you forever. Let tiie ihreatimed invasion bj repelled by 
your aid, and you need afterwards entertain no fears of foreign intrigue;. The 
union wiih Texas will be consummated in the very act of this brotherly assis- 
tance. You will run no risk, if the invasion be thus repelled, of the re-imbursement 
of your pecuniary advances. Let her independence and peace be thus secured, and 
your claims will speedily be converted into stock of the Uniled States. If it shall be 
said, and it will prob'ibly be so said, to defeat this benevolently measure, that this in- 
vasion is only an impotent threat — all will rejoice if it be true; but the rule of war is 
to deem every tiing that is possible, to be probable; an I here the event depreciied is, 
iKJl only p >ssible, but much more than probable. Be, thfiefore, not deterred by any 
such suf^gest )n, from the good work. Let the aid be alForded under regulations of 
prudence which shall make iiapplicable only on the contingency of its being necessary 
and which shall secure its due a[)plication. Tlie monuy need not be drawn from 
your treasuuries, (which may not be supplied,) but may be raised on stocks author- 
ized by the respective Slates. Men of tlie South and VV<;st, if there be political dif- 
ferences between you, lay them down for a moment at the shrine of patriotism and 
humanity, and do this great service to the interests of your country, and at the same 
time prevent this awful sacrifice of your own kindred; which, should il ha;>p(Mi, your 
iiearls will bleed to bt/hold, and which your consciences will ever afterwards reproach 
you for having sulFjred. 

It has mn been without some hesitation and reluctance, that I have at all entered 
into this discussion. I considered my day of activity as by gone, and was reposing 
in the most absolute retirement, in which 1 desired to remain for the rest of my life, 
when the i'lcident mentioned in the beginning of this paper, drew from me, 
OS an act of civility, a shor* expression of my opinions; and I should have said 
no more, bit for the misconception of my views on a point on which I am most 
anxious not to be misunderstood. But, being about to correct this error, and feeling 
as strongly and indignuntly as any man can do, the ojjprcssion, disgrace and danger 



15 

under which my country suirers,ahlioufjh no one is more scnsihlfi of the little import- 
ance of my opinions and counsels tlian I am, I luivc leic it to be tlie diityof n citizc-ii, 
on my P'>rt, to lluow lliini into tlie mass ol deliberation on the s'lbject of tlic great 
crisis which liangs so awfully over lis Besides, 1 have always had an utter ablior- 
i-ence of oppression, by whatever hands it may be inflicted. It is now a third of a 
century, since when, in the prime of life, with some share of popular favor, and 
ambitious of more, 1 did not hesitate to hazard all that I possessed and all that I lioped 
for, in defending the rijihls and interests of that pco[)le who are now the oppressors 
of my own immediate country, and who tlireaien daily, not only its prosperity, but 
its social peace. I held up, with a few noble associates, the flag of their gallant but 
then unpopular little navy; I vindicated tlieir glorious coinmercial (MiU'r|)iize — r\n 
cnterprize which, while it enriched them, made no one poor; and 1 defended, (not 
without success,) their pecuniary rights, against what I considered, tlic hand of 
rapacity and unjust power, though it was the hand of the pulitical men with whom I 
was associated. It would ill becinne mc then, I lliought, to close my life by declining 
to offer mv counsel for what it was worth, and tu raise my voice in the assertion of 
ihe rights and the reprobation of the wrongs of "my own, my native land." 

LANGDON CHEVES. 



PRINTED BY WALKER & BURKE, 

No. 3 Broad-street. 



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